Air treating apparatus



April 27, 1954 A. Y. DODGE AIR TREATING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 22, 1952 MAIDEMiL-R v I I mmvron: 4 W%@@ 6d, M)W' ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 27, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT" oF-Fice AIR- TREATING APPARATUS Adiel Y. Dodge, Rockford; in; Application November22, 1952;; Serial'Nor322,=1-22 1 This invention relates to air treating apparatus:v and more particularly to apparatus: for cooling anddehumidifying air. I

It has heretofore been the common practicein summer air conditioning systems-t0 circulate and: coola; relatively small volume of air in proportion to the total'volumein' the spaceto be conditioned to a: relatively low temperature. Dehumidification has been accomplished by relying; on condensation' of moisture from the relatively small'proportion-of the air which is circulated; This practice does not remove sufiicientmoisture from theair to reduce thehumidity to ai-comfortable-level and in many cases results inovercoolingt In my PatentNo; 2,519,028, I- have proposed anzair treating.apparatuswhich circulates a relativelylarge volume of air in proportion to the total volumeinthe'spaceand reduces the'temperatureof the circulatedair to-a' higher levelthan inthe conventional practice. In this apparatus dehumidification is accomplished by causing-the-air to swirl in the casing to-condense moisture-against the cooled walls cthereof; and, further byseparately withdrawing the relative ly humid air from the central portion rof thewhirling'massa It'IiS 'OIIG' of theobjects of thepresent'inventiom to'provide anair treating apparatuseof the typedisclosed in'my Patent No. 2,519,028, in whichaircirculated. through the casing bya blower so arranged that the natural swirl of air created by the-blower impeller will continue throughout the casing: to produce a spiral movementof air through the casing. V

1 3 Another object" is to provide anapparatus m5,

which cooling and dehumidification are effected by first cooling the air to its dew;- point and-them separatingthe relatively" unstable mixture-resulting into" condensateydryfco'ol air; andhumid' air 'by -centrifugal force. 7 V

Eccording to one feature; the relativelyrhumid air -is' withdrawn from-the central portion of the" swi ing mass and is returned to' the blower inlet"- rc mix with the incoming air-and maybe aw 4 tion'ally cooled to reduce its: temperature to; a"

low v'aluei I 11 Claims. (of; rea -2' -A fiirther object'*is}-to-provide an apparatus in which thehumid-air withdrawn from the cen 2 removed from the air by centrifugal actlori and by'being mixed with the condensate which c'o'llectson the casing Walls.

The above and other objects and'feature's of the invention will be; more readily apparent can the following description when read in connection with; the accornpanyingv drawing" in whic'hz' Figure l -is a diagrammatie'al sectional viewer an airtreating apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig; re 2 is a transverse section on the broken line; 2-2 of Figiire 1; and

Figure 3 is a partial sectio'ti' on the" 1irie-s=r of Figure 1'. g H v v p The air treating apparatus, as shown; comprises a casing indicated generallyat l'fiwh'ich' is hour-glass' shaped and" circular in section throughout its length. The" casing has a relatively large upperend thro'iighfwhicl'i air'is supplied thereto and tapers conically to a central section H of m'iriiinu-iii' diameter. At its lower partthe' casing flares outwardly to a bottom of m ximumniameter is closed by an rerted conical bottor'rf'plat'e l2. outlet I'3 for condensate, is. provided at the bottom peg riphe'ra'l parrot the casing The"lo'we'r part of ca's'iiigla't the maiiiiriurri" diameter portion thereof i'sffornie'd w'ithaniain' air'o'utle't l t" in" the forrfi of a, spiral tubele'xtend'ing tangentially outward'irrom thefc'asing. Preferably a louvered arcuate" wall" I 5" is p'roi ided at the outlet portion of the casing through which air" flows" from the Casing. roper into the Outlet conduit [4. I

Ki-r' is supplied to the upper end" of the casing 0 through a series oflo'uve'rsjm formed inithe 'outer' portion of a' plate I1 fitting over the top of thecasing; The'"louve'rs I6 will directairpass-'- me therethrough tangentially into the casingto causethe' air to swirlin a' spiral path through the-casing a's"in'dicated byithe'arrow :3; The

plate" 1' fornis a part or a" lower housing" which is completed by a cupped shaped-housing part (9' fitting against t epl'atei Iri'its-up'per endfithe' irousingis ro ided with an heartening-refined aseries of tangentially extending louve'rs 2-1 1 'are directed irr the s'anie tangential d'i-rectioh as th'e' lo vers l P to cause a continuous wfrling of the air a's' it passes through the blowe'r tral portion- 0f the-swirling mass is u'tili zedto fill help-'coolthe' condenser and compressor of a refrigerating apparatus empl yed to -cq l the-1038:?

'A till further' 'objct td-proviuearrapfi irr which-nust and siiiiil'ar fireigh -p rflcres are err blower v c'aus'ed to' circu'l'ate through the blowen housing andthroughthe casing i 9* by a rotor the centenof'th blo wrfhoueiligs with al hollow: hubflmi'hayin'g aseries 'of" tends vertically downwardly to connect to the hub 22.

Air is supplied to the blower from an air inlet chamber mounted above the blower housing and enclosing the inlet louvers 2!. Air enters the air chamber 25 through tangentially extending louvers 23 in the side wall thereof which are supplied with air from an inlet conduit 21 lying tangent to the inlet chamber and communicating with the louvers 26 as best seen in Figure 2.

The casing walls and the wall I! of the blower housing are cooled by a cooling conduit 28 extending spirally inward over the wall I1 and downward through the casing from its upper to its lower end and fitting tightly against the walls of the casing. The conduit 28 serves not only to cool the casing walls but by being connected thereto forms a condensate trough extending spirally from the upper to the lower end of the casing and spirally downward in the same direction as the air travels. Condensate collected in the trough so formed will be carried to the lower end of the casing and discharged through the opening l3.

As diagrammatically illustrated the conduit 28 may form the evaporator of a conventional compression expansion refrigerating mechanism including a condenser 29 and a compressor 3!. The condenser is connected to one end of the conduit 2a to deliver liquid refrigerant thereto and the compressor is connected to the condenser to supply high pressure refrigerant vapor thereto to comprise a conventional refrigerating cycle.

In operation of the mechanism since dry air is substantially heavier than water vapor or saturated air, the highly humid air and water vapor will tend to collect near the axis of the casing due to centrifugal action. This humid air is withdrawn through an outlet conduit 32 extending axially through the casing 18 throughout its length and formed with a series of axially spaced louvers 33 extending through the length of the casing. The louvers 33 face in a direction opposite to the direction of air circulation so that they will scoop up the circulating air near the axis of the casing which comprises the humid portion of the air and the water vapor.

According to one feature of the invention, a portion of the humid air which has been cooled below its normal temperature by passage into the cooled casing, is returned to the inlet to mix with incoming air from the space to be conditioned. For this purpose as shown the upper end of the conduit 32 is taperedand fits into the hollow hub 22 of the blower. The hub 22 is formed with a series of outlet ports 34 through which the humid air can discharge radially into the spaces between the blades 23 to mix with air forced into the casing by the blower.

Preferably the humid air so returned iscooled to a temperature substantially lower than the desired discharge temperature to facilitate condensation of moisture from the incoming air. For this purpose a portion of the cooling coil 28 is spirally wrapped around the upper end of the conduit 32 as shown at 35. Preferably the coil 35 is of a size to reduce the temperature of the humid air to a point well below the comfort point, such as F. When this cold air is mixed in the desired proportion with entering warm air from the space and is swirled therewith through the blower and the casing, it will cause condensation of moisture and will effect an eflicient cooling of the incoming air to a greater extent than is possible merely by having the air contact the cool container walls.

The remainder of the humid air collected in the conduit 32 may be utilized to assist in cooling the condenser and compressor. For this purpose a conduit 31 connects to the bottom I2 of the casing and forms an extension of the conduit 32. The conduit 3'! may be connected to a housing 38 which fits over the condenser and compressor so that cooled humid air discharged through the conduit will be directed over the condenser and compressor to assist in cooling them. The quantity of humid air so discharged over the condenser and compressor may be controlled by a valve 39 in the conduit 3'3. It is of course also contemplated that additional air from the space or from outside of the space could be supplied to cool the condenser and compressor and may be circulated thereover by the usual fans or blowers not shown. It is also contemplated that condensate discharged through the opening is may be directed over the condenser to be vaporated thereon further to assist in cooling.

In operation air from the space to be conditioned enters the inlet conduit 2'! and flows tangentially through the louvers 26- into the air chamber 25. This air in a continuation of its initial spiral flow passes through the louvers 2| into the blower casing Where its spiral flow is increased by the blades 23 and it is forced in a continuation of the same spiral flow through the louvers i6 and into the casing Ill. As the air flows in a spiral path through th casing l0, its velocity and vortex action are increased until the air enters the restricted neck H of the casing where its velocity and vortex flow reach a maximum. The air continues in its vortex flow from the lower part of the casing and the cooled dehumidified air which is to be returned to the space is discharged through the louvers 15 into th outlet conduit M to be directed back to the space. It will be appreciated that where dehumidification rather than cooling is desired, the air may be warmed in any desired manner, as, for example, by passing it over a portion of the condenser 29.

Due to the high vortex velocity of the air flowing through the casing moisture condensed therefrom will be thrown outward against the walls of the casing and will flow downward along the trough formed by the conduit 28 to discharge through the outlet l3. Any dust or other foreign particles in the air will also be thrown outward by centrifugal force and will be picked up by the condensate and carried out of the casing with it. Thus the air returned to the space is cleaned without the necessity of using any filters and without adding resistance to air flow.

The vortex action will also cause the highly humid air and water vapor to collect near the axis of the casing. The louvers 33 will conduct this portion of the air mass into the outlet tube 32 where a portion of it will be further cooled by the coil 35 and returned to the blower inlet. Mixture of this cooled air with the incoming air and the coolingeffect of the plate ll cool the incoming air quickly to its dew point and swirling of the relatively unstable resulting mixture produces a rapid and efficient separation of the dry cooled air from the, vapor and humid air.

- It is contemplated that a volume of air which is large relative to the volume of air in the space to be cooled, shall be circulated through the apparatus and that the outlet temperatur shall be reduced to approximately the comfort point,

a high comfort level is'm'aintainedin the space;

At th same timethe-apparatus canbe relatively small and can operate emciently with: a minimumof power-consumption:

While one embodiment of the inventiorr has been shown and described in detail; it" will-be understood that this-isillustrative only andisnot to be taken as' a definition'oFtheinvention reference being had for=- this purpose to -th'e appended claims:

What is claimed is:

1, Air treating apparatus comprising an ,elongatedh'ollow" casing of circular'section, a tangentially extendingain outlet for the casing adjacentto one end thereof, a. centrifugalblowercoaxial with the casing at itslother end and com.- munic'ating. adjacent to its periphery with the peripheral portion of thecasing th'e blower fore..- ing air through the casing in aspen path,means to cool the casing'to condense a portion of the moisture in the air, means adjacent to the periphery of th casing to collect condensate thrown out from the air by centrifugal force, and an outlet conduit for humid air extending axially through the casing and being perforated substantially throughout its length to receive humid air from the central part of the casing.

2. Air treating apparatus comprising an elongated hollow casing of'circular section, a tangentially extending air outlet for the casing adjacent to one end thereof, a centrifugal blower coaxial with the casing at its other end and communicating adjacent to its periphery with the.

peripheral portion of the casing, the blower forcing air through the casing in a spiral path, means to cool the casing to condense a portion of the moisture in the air, means adjacent to the periphery of the casing to collect condensate thrown out from the air by centrifugal force, and an outlet conduit for humid air extending axially through the casing and being perforated substantially throughout its length to receive humid air from the central part of the casing, said outlet conduit communicating with the inlet to the blower whereby at least a portion of the humid air will be recirculated through the casing.

'3. Air treating apparatus comprising an elongated hollow casing of circular section, a tangentially extending air outlet'for the casing adjacent to one end thereof, a centrifugal blower coaxial with the casing at'its other end and communicating adjacent to its periphery with the peripheral portion of thecasing, the blower forcing air through the casing in a spiral path, means to cool the casing to condense a portion of the moisture in the air, means adjacent to the periphery of the casing to collect condensate thrown out from the air by, centrifugal force, and an 'outlet conduit for humid air extending axially through the casing and being perforated substantially throughout its length to receive humid air from the central part of the casing, said means to cool the casing including a condenser and a compressor and said outlet conduit conducting humidair from the-casing over the compressor and condenser to assist in cooling them.

4. Air treating apparatus comprising an elongated hollow casing of circular section, a tangentially extending air outlet for the casing adjacent to one end thereof, acentrifugal blower coaxial with the casing at its other end and communicating adjacent to its periphery with the peripheral portion of the casing; the blowerz-ifo'rc'w ing air through the casing in a spiral path, means to cool the casing to condense a portion: of the moisture in the air; means adjacent to the periphery ofthecasing to-collect condensate-thrown outfrom the air by centrifugal 'force, andan out-- let conduit for humid air. extending axially through the casing and.- being perforated substantially throughoutits length to receive humid ai'r' from' the central part of the casing, said means, to cool the casing-including a compressor and a, condenser, said conduit communicating at one endwith the inlet to the-blower to recirculate a portion" of the humid air through the casing and 1 at its'other enddischarging humid air-overtha compressor andcondenser to assist in coolingthem";

52 Air treating' apparatus comprising an elon=- gated hollow casing of circular section, aa-tan genti'ally extending air outlet for the casingadjacent' to one endthereof, a centrifugal blower coaxial withthe casing at its otherend andcom"- municating adjacentx to its periphery with the peripheral portion of v the casing, the-blower forcing air through the casing in a spiral path, means to cool the casing to condense a portion of the moisture in the air, means adjacent to the periphery of the casing to collect condensate thrown out from the air by centrifugal force, and an outlet conduit for humid air extending axially through the casing and being perforated substantially throughout its length to receive humid air from the central part of the casing, said cooling means including a cooling tube extending spirally through the casing in contact with the walls thereof to define a spiral condensate collecting trough and there being an outlet for condensate at the discharge end of the casing adjacent to its periphery.

6. The construction of claim 1 in which the casing is hour glass shaped with enlarged ends and a reduced central portion to increase the air velocity in the central portion of the casing.

7. Air treating apparatus comprising an elongated hollow casing of circular section, a tangenthe casing to condense alportion of the moisture in the air, means adjacent to the periphery of the casing to collect condensate thrown out from the air by centrifugal force, and an outlet conduit for humid air extending axially through the casing and being perforated substantially throughout its length to receive humid air from the central part of the casing, said outlet conduit communicating with the inlet to the blower to return at least a portion of the humid air thereto, and cooling means in the conduit to further cool the returned portionof the humid air.

8. Air treating apparatus'comprising an elongated hollow casing of circular section, an air outlet at one end of the casing, a blower housing 'fitting over the other end of the casing, circumferentially extending louvers near the periphery of the housing through which it communicates with the casing, circumferentially extending louvers near thecenter of the housing defining an air inlet therefor, a vaned rotor in the blower housing to force air therethrough and through the casing in aspiral path; meansto cool the casing to condense a portion of the moisture in the air.

9. Air treating apparatus comprising an elongated hollow casing of circular section, an air outlet at one end of the casing, a blower housing fitting over the other end of the casing, circumt'erentially extending louvers near the periphery of the housing through which it communicates with the casing, circumferentially extending louvers near the center of the housing defining an air inlet therefor, a vaned rotor in the blower housing to force air therethrough and through the casing in a spiral path, an outlet at the periphery of the casing near its outlet end for condensate, and a discharge conduit for humid air extending axially through the casing and perforated substantially throughout its length to receive humid air from the central part of the casing.

10. Air treating apparatus comprising a hollow casing circular in cross section, an air outlet at one end of the casing, means to force air into the other end of the casing in a spiral path to cause the air to whirl in a vortex through the casing, means to cool air in the casing to a'relatively low temperature, and a connection from the interior of the casing to the forcing means to supply a relatively small proportion of cooled air from the casing to mix with the air forced into the casing.

11. Air treating apparatus comprising a hollow casing circular in cross section, a tangentially extending air outlet adjacent to one end of the easing, a closure plate for the other end of the casing having a series of tangentially directed louvers near the periphery of the casing to direct air therethrough, and means to cool the closure plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,187,066 Youker Jan. 16, 1940 2,480,379 Newberry Aug. 30, 1949 2,591,408 Crankshaw Apr. 1, 1952 2,630,691 Harris et al Mar. 10, 1953 

